Fiddleneck

Fiddleneck is a robust winter annual with deeply and intricately cut grey-green leaves, with dense and hairy one-sided coiling clusters of bell-shaped lavender-blue flowers. Each flower is just under a centimeter long and has long, protruding stamens.

It flowers during June and July and can be found on roadsides and wasteland and dry or disturbed soil. The flowers are very attractive to bees, butterflies and other insects during the summer. It produces seeds for wild birds to feed on during the winter.

Phacelia is derived from Greek and means ‘bundle’, referring to the flower clusters. Tanacetifolia means ‘leaves resembling those of Tanacetum, which is commonly known as Tansy.

Fiddleneck came to Britain from the USA and is now well established locally as a wild flower, in most areas of Britain.